Back in 1985, when Mark and Connie Strassburg opened Memphis Pig Out in Atlantic Highlands, southern barbecue was an oddity in these parts.

“Nobody knew what pulled pork was,” Connie Strassburg recalled. “One lady sent it back to the kitchen and said, ‘It looks like somebody chewed on it.’ Now you can get it at White Castle. Go figure.”

After 32 years of dishing out pulled pork, ribs and barbecue chicken, Memphis Pig Out is closing sometime in May. The Strassburgs, who sold the building and liquor license to an undisclosed buyer, announced the news Wednesday with a mix of nostalgia and excitement.

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“We’re in good health, relatively speaking, but Mark’s 70 and we just want to do something else,” said Connie, who is 69. “We don’t have anybody to inherit it and we’ve got other adventures we want to do.”

Mark was in the restaurant business already when Connie, who worked in corporate product development, joined him in opening Memphis Pig Out on May 1, 1985.

“I guess I kind of wanted to see the man I was married to,” Connie joked. “Once we got going, it’s a fun life. This is a wonderful town to do business in, a wonderful town to live in. But 32 years is a long time.”

That epiphany hit Connie one recent Sunday.

“I found myself making potato salad in the kitchen and I saw a couple our age riding by on bicycles, and I said, ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’” she said. “They’re riding with smiles on their faces and I’m mired up in mayonnaise.”